City of Aspen teams with Pitkin County and others for Share the Air week

National Air Quality Awareness Week is May 2 – May 6, 2011. The City of Aspen and Pitkin County environmental health departments have teamed up with Garfield, Eagle and Mesa Counties and the US Environmental Protection Agency on a regional air quality awareness campaign called “Share the Air”. The focus of the campaign is to raise public knowledge about the quality of our shared air shed along the Roaring Fork and Colorado Rivers, as well as air contaminants that can impact public health.

We want to take this opportunity to share information about common environmental factors found in indoor and outdoor air that may trigger adverse health effects.

Our partnership recognizes that communities across this region have identified and are managing a variety of their own challenging localized air quality issues, including with those associated with different types of growth and development issues. All the counties are committed to ongoing air quality improvement initiatives that will promote clean air outside and inside your home. Thus far, Aspen and Pitkin County has been involved with air quality monitoring and related research, air quality improvement projects, and a variety of education and outreach initiatives. We are hopeful these types of initiatives will continue in the future to demonstrate that we are a proactive community. Each one of us plays a role in preserving the elements of our environment and protecting our shared health. The fact is, we all contribute to our local and regional air quality.

The goal this week is to provide information regarding several key air quality topics including radon, ozone, asthma triggers and carbon monoxide, why it’s important to know about each issue, and what individuals can do to help mitigate problems associated with these issues. Please check out our website www.aspenpitkin.com each day this week to learn more about radon, ozone, asthma triggers and carbon monoxide.

For more information about this campaign or any other air quality related efforts in Aspen or Pitkin County contact Jannette Whitcomb at the city at 920-5069 or Carla Ostberg at the county at 920-5438.